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Looking at life …

One day walking through a store I became aware of a song playing ~ Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”. I became so captivated by the song that I just stopped to listen. And when it was done I continued on with my errands. Yet I couldn’t seem to get the lyrics out of my head nor could I silence the emotions or thoughts that were arising from hearing that song.

For me, the music spoke about how life is guided by our perceptions; more specifically how my false perceptions guided my reality. When I was a child growing up I thought life was a fairytale and believed that anything in the world could become mine if I wanted it bad enough – like the words in the song "Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel, as every fairytale comes real; I've looked at love that way." And then life happened at 22 years old – my dad died and so did my fairytales. That was a defining moment when my perceptions of life changed and I stopped believing that anything in the world could become mine. As in this verse of the song, "But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go, and if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away."

What perceptions are guiding your life today?

As I continued to walk through the store that day, I watched other people more closely – wondering what their perceptions of life were. Did they believe that anything in life could become theirs or had they succumbed to the idea that dreams were just an illusion? That disappointments and failures turn into lost opportunities and then this perception becomes the new normal of how we view life looking through a distorted lens allowing situations to block the light shutting the door to our dreams?

I have witnessed this in others and felt sadness for them yet when I look deeper to see how this played out in my own life well that’s the deepest sadness.

But it's not too late for HOPE to emerge. The light begins to shine so the darkness can fade when we realize what we have believed to be true is just our perception that we have allowed to guide the direction of our life. Perception is not truth; it's just the way we perceive something. If we are brave enough to be open to an experience we learn and grow especially during vulnerable and fragile moments by allowing a light to continue to shine through the storm.

Life is a journey. We succeed, we fail; we open ourselves to love, we get rejected; we feel happy, we hurt; we live, we die. It’s all part of living. I've learned that life is about being open to our journey not letting any one experience dictate the perception of who we believe we are so we can embrace the beauty in all those things that make us uniquely special.